On a Mission

I am a woman on a mission. Wine Salt. Red Wine Cake and now… Biscotti with Wine!!! I am on a quest for all things wine.  You all know the old saying – ” I cook with wine – sometimes I even add it to the food.” Well I am the embodiment of that philosophy in my daily cooking. Now I see that I can push the envelope and do even more with wine.

I saw this recipe from Passaggio Wines for The Passaggio Passionistas Biscotti  and noticed right away that it included reduced Chardonnay as one of it’s elements. Notice how I noticed that. I am huge fan of biscotti. I am a huge fan of wine.  I venture into the Bronx to Arthur Ave. and buy pounds of biscotti to dunk in my morning coffee and evening wine. And now I found the startling and wonderful combination of wine and cookie incorporated.

I tried to buy the Passaggio Unoaked Chardonnay. I went to my favorite wine store haunts. I searched online. I could not find a bottle on Long Island. I had to make my first improvisation to the recipe. Sorry my friends at Passaggio. I will however be ordering their wine directly from them for future tasting. http://www.passaggiowines.com/

I did the next best thing and used a bottle of one of my personal favorites- Comtesse de Marion Chardonnay. This wine is vinified in stainless steel. Crisp and clean with great minerality. Apple and pear on the nose. Priced at under $10.00. It is a great wine. My sister from Virginia loves it. I always buy a few bottles when she comes up for a visit.

Ingredients as follows:

1/2 cup roasted unsalted almonds

1/4 sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons reduced unoaked Chardonnay

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Reduce about 1 cup of unoaked Chardonnay and set aside to cool.

I enjoyed a little tasting of my own paired with potato chips- my favorite tasting of all- while the wine was reducing.

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, almond extract and lemon zest.

Add the reduced Chardonnay.

In another bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Add this mixture to your creamed mixture until blended.

Now the recipe called for 1/2 cup of whole almonds chopped into halves or thirds. I did this but couldn’t resist adding 1/2 cup of  chopped dried blueberries as well. Blueberries, roasted almonds and lemon seemed to be a heavenly combination.

Fold this into your mixture.

Divide the dough in half and place on a greased and floured baking sheet. Using floured hands, shape the dough into logs about 1/2 inch thick. 1 1/2 inches wide and 12 inches long.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes.

Hey – wait a minute- this is the mandelbread my grandmother made. You say biscotti. I say mandelbread. This is the exact same way you bake mandelbread. You shape the logs. You bake it and then you slice the logs and bake again; turning them once while in the oven for the second time so that both sides toast. Yes. Wow. Moment of silence. And a moment of inspiration. I will dust the slices with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon just like my grandmother did.

So – slice the logs, using a serrated knife,  into pieces that are approximately 1/2 inch thick.

Lay them flat on the baking pan and place back in the oven for about 10 minutes, turning them once. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Lemony and crisp, with just a hint of the reduced wine, these biscotti were a perfect choice for dessert or an anytime treat. Enjoy them with some of the leftover wine (did I just say that?)  or a cup of coffee.

George stole a few while they were cooling and for the man of few words he was pretty damn poetic about these cookies. ” These are delicious. You should make these every day! “